Mark of Excellence

When Europe finally and slowly emerged from the Dark Ages in the 11th century, a tremendous amount of credit must be given, not to the rulers and landowners, but to the merchants and craftsmen of that time. They began to form associations for mutual aid and the promotion of common interests to combat the commercial and intellectual stagnation that had gripped the continent for so long.

These associations of merchants and craftsmen were called “Guilds”…and were the dawn of the development of the global world economy that we know today…as well as democracy itself.

Perhaps the most important and far-sighted actions of the Guilds were the emphasis on creativity and quality control to uphold standards of excellence. This was especially true of the craftsmen who were goldsmiths, silversmiths and creators of pewter products.

To attest to the purity of their products that were free of any alloy, the goldsmiths and silversmiths began to affix a hallmark – or touchmark – to their products. These marks included the maker’s initials and/or a symbol; as well as, the town and year of manufacture… and were the forerunners of today’s trademarks.

The pewter makers differed however from the gold and silversmiths, because pewter was an alloy product in the first place. The basic metal in pewter is tin. Products made with a base of tin were very popular with the populace since they cost so much less than gold, and considerably less than silver.

But tin presented a problem for the craftsmen. In it’s pure form, tin is too brittle for casting and is not easy to melt down. This is why tin had to be alloyed with other metals, mostly lead or copper, often coupled with the elements of antimony and bismuth.

All of which led to a further problem for pewter craftsmen. Pewter alloyed with copper was of much finer quality than pewter alloyed with lead…and was safe to use for drinking vessels, and dishes, since lead is dangerous for human consumption. In other words, pewter alloyed with the lead can only be used in products that are not used near the mouth.

To keep pewter craftsmen under constant surveillance whereby they inform and protect the public, a system was worked out whereby every single pewter product had to be marked by one, two or even more “touches” or touchmarks. It took some time for the regulation to go into effect, but by the 16th century – the golden age of pewter – almost all products were clearly “touchmarked.”

Such care and concern has led down through the years, to what we now refer to as the “logotype,” This logotype is a distinctive company signature or trademark to instantly identify and declare quality and service.

Touchmark means a blend of metals – tin and copper or lead to create a suitable alloy – today Touchmark is a blend of all graphic technologies including Heidelberg to Digital Technology to bring to the customer a quality product with our Touchmark for approval.